


On the Fringe

by commonlyquixotic



Series: Star Wars Shorts [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Apprentice Series - Jude Watson & Dave Wolverton, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, ExplorCorps, Fix-It, Gen, He's Too Much of an Adrenaline Junkie, Jedi Service Corps, Jedi!Shmi, Non-Knights AU, Obi-Wan is Not Meant to be a Farmer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-30 15:29:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8538427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commonlyquixotic/pseuds/commonlyquixotic
Summary: Obi-Wan is assigned to the Exploration Corps when he fails to be apprenticed by a Jedi Master.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't actually read the Jedi Apprentice Series, but I've read a lot of fanfiction based on it. I don't know if they ever gave an explanation for why Obi-Wan was being sent to the AgriCorps, but it struck me as probably not the best fit for him. He seems much more suited to the ExplorCorps. So I ran with the idea.

When Obi-Wan had been sent to the Exploration Corps he had seen himself as a failure. All his life he had heard stories of Jedi Knights, always in the center of the action - defending those in need with their lightsabers, averting wars with their wise words, traveling from one end of the Republic to the other to guide its citizens as they in turn were guided by the force. Those stories had always resonated with him. The Jedi Knights were his heroes and he had been on the path to the same noble destiny. Until he turned thirteen without being chosen as a Padawan. He had been devastated. He had been so sure that it was what he was meant for. But the years passed and he was overlooked or rejected by master after master and watched his peers one by one be chosen in turn. Maybe he wasn’t as good at meditation as he could be, and maybe his anger got the better of him sometimes, but he did well on his coursework and he knew he was good with a saber. Every Master who had showed interest in him had praised his saber work, but it apparently wasn’t good enough and in the end no one chose him. He was always proud of his saber skills and ended up being glad he had worked so hard on them.  They were the reason the Reassignment council had sent him to the ExplorCorps. His skills weren’t suited for the MediCorps, and there had been an unusually high number of additions to the EduCorps in the past several months, but he had almost been sent to the AgriCorps because Master Yoda was convinced he had some sort of special affinity for plants. Apparently that was how he had talked Master Jinn into viewing his match with Bruck – it seemed Master Jinn had a similar affinity. But in the end his saber skills had tipped the balance in favor of the AgriCorps and his affinity for plants merely meant that he had a better than average chance sensing if a plant was edible or poisonous.

In the Corps, Obi-Wan’s combat skills meant that after his initial training, he was more likely to be sent on the dangerous missions that were lead by Jedi Knights, or supply runs to the seedier Outer Rim planets or to collect zoological samples on dangerous worlds rather than looking for mining opportunities on otherwise barren worlds or initial scans of newly discovered systems. It kept what skills he had sharp and got him in the habit of asking every Corps veteran and new knight he met for tips and sparring practice to further improve. Mixing the more advanced saber forms from the knights with the bits of hand to hand and street brawling he’d learned from the Corpsmen meant that he could hold his own against almost anyone.

He’d met Anakin on one of those seedy Outer Rim supply runs. He’d been tracking down parts for ship repairs and ended up in a shop run by a Toydarian who owned a young human slave who blazed bright with the Force. The Force was pretty insistent that this child was meant to be trained. The ExplorCorps did a certain amount of training for force sensitives that they encountered in the field – some who were unsuited for the Jedi Academy due to age, or who weren’t quite strong enough for knighthood but had an interest in the Force, or who’s parents hadn’t wanted to give them up for training but who sought out the order on their own later in life. They also occasionally gained new members when they made contact with a previously unknown inhabited world. All the Service Corps accepted the occasional nontraditional member, but the ExplorCorps had the most due to the nature of their work and their presence in even the fringes of known space. As a Jedi, Obi-Wan wasn’t allowed to buy slaves, but he was determined and knew some locals who owed him a favor so two days later he left the planet with the boy and his mother in tow.

The ExplorCorps didn’t have a formal apprenticeship system, but it quickly became habit for Obi-Wan to look in on Shmi and Anakin whenever he was anywhere near their praxeum ship. Shmi had joined the training staff and was teaching desert survival, urban survival, cooking and emergency tech repair. Anakin was always excited to see him and tell him about the latest class he’d taken, or piece of tech he’d taken apart to upgrade, or beg him for a spar since he was quickly outpacing his fellow trainees in saber practice. Pretty soon he’d be ready for supervised field work and by that time Obi-wan should have enough experience to start leading a squad. He’s planning to request that Anakin join his squad as their pilot, and he’s got his eye on a navigator and researcher that he picked out based on their good balance of combat skills, survival skills, and street smarts. Obi-Wan thinks they’ll make a good team.

**Author's Note:**

> I think Anakin would love the ExplorCorps. A focus on piloting, navigation, and survival skills? Seems right up his alley! He would probably find the research boring though. According to Wookiepedia, quite a few members of the ExplorCorps survived Order 66 and just went off the grid. I might continue this if some of the ideas in my head take shape with a little more clarity. Feel free to give me feedback and/or suggestions here or on tumblr @ quietlypining4fanfiction.


End file.
